1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to isolation structures and, more particularly, to components for providing temporary walls for isolation structures.
2. State of the Art
In modern manufacturing and construction operations, it is often necessary to provide substantially contaminant-free environments. Such environments, sometimes referred to as "clean rooms", generally comprise enclosures that isolate a selected area from the surrounding environment such that the atmosphere within the isolated area has substantially fewer airborne particulates and other contaminants than the environment exterior to the isolated area.
Most clean rooms are intended to be permanent structures, even though circumstances often arise that require reconfiguration of clean rooms or that require only a temporary isolation structure or a structure that can be conveniently increased in size or otherwise reconfigured. Because construction of clean room-like environments is complex, the time required for re-construction or reconfiguration of clean rooms may cause substantial delays in projects as well as considerable expense and other inconveniences. This is particularly true where construction requires movement of large items of equipment or substantial modifications to existing structures.
To avoid the cost and inconvenience of constructing permanent clean room structures, attempts have been made to provide temporary isolation enclosures. However, construction of temporary enclosures that provide substantial protection against contaminant intrusion is not a simple matter and usually involves unique construction practices. For example, in circumstances where the concentration of airborne particulate contamination must be minimized, the interior of an isolating enclosure usually cannot have exposed particulating surfaces, because particulates from the surfaces can increase airborne contaminants to unacceptably high levels. Currently, temporary isolation structures are often constructed with timber and clear plastic sheet material know in the construction trade as Visqueen construction plastic; however, both timber and such plastic materials may be particulating in the sense that they may release particles, often of sub-micron size, to their immediate environment. Thus, in current practice, temporary isolating structures may contribute contamination of the type that the structures are intended to prevent.
In view of the preceding discussion, it can be appreciated that there exists a substantial need for improved ways and means of constructing temporary isolation structures. It should be noted that such temporary isolation structures may even be used within clean rooms or other structures that have controlled environments. For example, in situations where a machine requires dismantling within a controlled environment, it is often desirable to provide a temporary isolating structure around the dismantled machine to prevent release of particulates into the controlled environment.